While hardware systems sales fell in the quarter, hardware support revenue grew, thanks to better "attach rates" for support contracts on new sales, Hurd said during the call.

Oracle is also "selling fewer systems at higher margins," Hurd said. "These are the fundamentals of a solid hardware business."

"Oracle's doing a good job of pushing hardware in its installed base of customers," said analyst Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research, in an interview Thursday before the results were announced. "It's leading with Exadata and slowly learning how to sell and service as a hardware company, not an easy skill for a company that's traditionally not been in hardware."

Wang, who helps software buyers negotiate contracts with vendors, has seen "the usual flurry of end-of-year discounting" in fourth-quarter deals with Oracle, "but not as steep as in years past."

"Oracle's definitely gaining on the apps side of the business, but as with other companies, the growth is coming from the edge apps, not the core ERP apps per se," he added.